Defenders Of The Earth #1 - Mad Cave Studios

DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH No. 1, August 2024

Starting with the final day of our planet’s war with Mongo in 2020 A.D., Dan Didio’s script for Issue One of “Defenders Of The Earth” probably initially pleased any fans of the 1986 American animated television series upon which this eight-part mini-series is apparently based. In fact, Mandrake the Magician and the Phantom’s deadly encounter with an army of “a thousand strong” Ice Soldiers makes for a riveting read as it becomes increasingly clear that the central protagonists probably aren’t going to survive the confrontation, even after Lothar appears to add some significant strength to their defence.

Sadly however, once this ‘flashback’ has concluded the comic’s narrative debatably nosedives into a bizarre, super sedentary series of set-pieces in which none of the main cast are particularly likeable, and very little in the way of action occurs – apart from an angry Rick Gordon loudly proclaiming to a packed restaurant that his father will be footing all of their meal bills; “Attention! Tonight’s dinner is courtesy of the Defenders of the Earth, and their great saviour, Flash Gordon.” This disappointing reduction of pace appears to have been adopted to allow the American author an opportunity to highlight the sinister corruption seeping into the world’s rejuvenated civilisation. But instead, just makes the titular characters appear selfish, high-handed, petty and shockingly surly.

In addition, the twenty-four page plot suddenly leaps from the intriguing suggestion that Alex Raymond’s creation may well be being diabolically misled by his political advisors to the replacement of a still badly-maimed “Ghost Who Walks” by the masked man's daughter and murderous brother in Bangalla. Many a bibliophile would probably expect such a key revelation to be a major turning point in the comic. Yet instead, it is almost haphazardly mentioned by Lothar as he’s leaving his injured friend, despite Mandrake’s assistant being in his company for some considerable time beforehand.

Sadly, Jim Calafiore’s layouts are arguably just as inconsistent as this book’s penmanship, with the artist’s later panels lacking much of the energy and conviction seen during the heroes’ early battle with Ming’s forces. Indeed, some of sequences concerning Rick’s trials and tribulations to see his father only look somewhat three-dimensional as a result of colorist Juancho’s shading, as opposed to anything the illustrator has actually sketched.

The regular cover art of "DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH" #1 by Jim Calafiore

Kings Watch #5 - Dynamite Entertainment

KINGS WATCH No. 5, January 2014

Spookily I only purchased this edition with the “exclusive subscription cover” by Ramon K. Perez because it was simply cheaper than the infinitely superior Marc Laming and Adam Street main cover. However what it lacks in dynamism it more than makes up for in solemnity, and therefore seems a far more fitting illustration to open the grim conclusion of this five-issue mini-series.

Writer Jeff Parker somewhat eases off the gas with this final chapter of his ‘Mongo invades the Earth’ storyline, but there’s a genuine reason as to why the action is not as grand-in-scale as its predecessor. It’s because it allows the Oregon-based author to instead concentrate on the character of The Phantom, and provide an abbreviated history as to how the role’s modern-day incumbent came to wear the mask. These scenes between ‘The Man Who Cannot Die” and Lothar become extremely poignant later on, and worth re-reading as a result, because Parker kills The Phantom off in a final noble sacrifice at the conclusion of Mandrake’s confrontation with The Cobra… and the Magician’s crime-fighting friend then dons the mask himself (presumably as the twenty-second Phantom).

Indeed although much of this issue is about endings, such as the death of The Cobra and an end to Ming’s invasion plans following the demise of his amphibian army, it is also about establishing new beginnings. Flash Gordon, Dale and Zarkov fly through the Earth’s gateway in order to ensure it’s ‘permanently closed’ and thus begin their adventures on Mongo thwarting the machinations of the Emperor Ming. Whilst Mandrake, having recovered from Cobra’s venom ring, appears to establish a new triumvirate to defend the Earth with himself, Karma and The (new) Phantom. Even The Cobra has a successor to take his place as the head of the secret cult in Mandrake's (estranged) wife, Narda.

All of these events are competently illustrated by artist Marc Laming and colorist Jordan Boyd, with a full-page panel showing The Phantom killing a “Little Shop of Horrors” Audrey II wannabe with a bazooka, and Lothar turning the five-hundred year-old pages of the first Phantom’s journal being particular highlights.

Sadly the only real negative to the proceedings is the creative team’s depiction of The Phantom’s demise. The pencil work of Laming is strong enough but whereas The Cobra is shown colourfully burning alive, ‘The Ghost Who Walks’ is illustrated on his knees with little to no colour being used in order to portray a blindingly white energy effect. Personally this makes the artwork of the large panel simply appear unfinished…

The regular cover art of "KINGS WATCH" No. 5 by Marc Laming and Adam Street

Kings Watch #4 - Dynamite Entertainment

KINGS WATCH No. 4, December 2013

Issue Four of “Kings Watch” begins with a very simple sentence which reads “Earth’s defenders have joined forces, but it’s too late.” and this really does sum up much of the content of the previous two issues; idle inactivity as writer Jeff Parker slowly positions his 'playing pieces' and eventually brings all the main antagonists together.

Fortunately this edition of “Dynamite Publications” five-issue mini-series desperately tries to readdress the balance and churns out some serious action-packed adventure as the invaders from Mongo attempt to conquer the Earth.

Naturally Emperor Ming’s spearhead strikes London, the heart of the British Empire and the greatest threat to his plans for world domination. As a result artist Marc Laming gets to illustrate some cracking panels depicting the British military desperately trying to fend off Lionmen and Rhinomen from Downing Street. Enter The Phantom, Flash Gordon and the misdirecting Mandrake and there’s plenty of very well-drawn carnage for a reader to enjoy. A particular highlight being the rather nice ‘double-page spread’ of the battle for Westminster, the political capital of her Majesty's government, where the linear flow of the panels really adds to the sense of action and excitement.

Laming also seems to try and cram in as many of the different races of Mongo as an Alex Raymond fan could encounter this side of a Thirties thirteen-installment Buster Crabbe film serial. As a result the penciller has Hawkmen, giant lizards, Wolfmen, Boarmen, Minotaurs and water-breathing Lizardmen all making an appearance; not forgetting the Emperor’s own forces, the white-armoured soldiers of Mongo. Which admittedly look disconcertingly similar to George Lucas' stormtroopers but with a fin stuck to top of their helmets. In addition we also finally get a chance to actually see Ming the Merciless in all his despicable dastardliness, as the Emperor nicely bookends the issue.

This really is a very good comic book with both Parker and Laming clearly well on top of their games. Even during one of the quieter moments in the book, when the heroes ‘retreat’ to Skull Cave, there’s some lovely interplay between Zarkov and ‘The Ghost Who Walks’, and then Lothar with Mandrake as the friends briefly squabble over the attention of the witch-doctor Karma. The illustration work depicting The Phantom’s secret lair is also excellent, with a real blending of Pirates of the Caribbean and primitive African culture.

The variant cover art of "KINGS MEN" No. 4 by Ramon Perez

Kings Watch #3 - Dynamite Entertainment

KINGS WATCH No. 3, November 2013

I am not entirely sure why I ended up purchasing this particular edition of “Kings Watch” as it has a Ramon K. Perez exclusive subscription cover and I am not a fan of his artwork, despite him being a multi-award winning cartoonist. Indeed the regular comic’s front page illustration by Marc Laming and Jordan Boyd is infinitely better and actually conveys a real sense of foreboding as to the magical and mystical forces that are to come to play within the book’s pages. Certainly if I was a fan of this “Dynamite Entertainment” series, and had signed up ahead of time with my local comic shop to reserve this particular issue I’d have been forcefully arguing that I did not deserve the “super special subscription variant” by Perez, even if it was “limited to initial orders only”.

Uninspiring cover art aside this third part in the five-issue mini-series finally provides Mandrake the Magician with some serious ‘screen time’ as Lee Falk’s creation faces his most evil and dangerous foe, The Cobra. Jeff Parker makes an especially good job of scripting this confrontation, embedding a memory of Flash Gordon’s childhood into the mix, so having watched the hypnotist as a young boy, the science fiction hero can assist him and distract the Cobra’s men in the present. Mandrake’s role continues to grow throughout the issue as the Portland-based writer uses him to explain the Cobra’s plans to Gordon, Dale Arden and Zarkov. Indeed the Magician not only seems well-versed in the mysterious quantum crystal-powered gateway to unknown worlds but also knows of Ming the Merciless and what the ruthless tyrant of the planet Mongo will do once he gains access to Earth.

Marc Laming’s illustrations continue to be an inconsistent affair, one minute perfectly capturing the raw dynamism of The Phantom blazing away with pistols upon horseback and the next filling a panel with a rather showy quantum energy formation whose pencilling looks amateurish at best. However I think colorist Jordan Boyd needs to take some responsibility for this rather average look to Laming’s layouts and inking, as the majority of his work seems to be disappointingly two-dimensional; a main colour with a single darker shade for shadowing.

What is not to be missed though is the excellent special script-to-page process presentation at the rear of this book, which takes the reader from Jeff Parker’s script for pages two and three, through Marc Laming’s initial panel sketches and ends with the lettering of Simon Bowland. This provides a fascinating insight into the creation of a modern-day comic and sadly is probably the highlight of the issue.

The regular cover art of "KINGS WATCH" No. 3 by Marc Laming

Kings Watch #2 - Dynamite Entertainment

KINGS WATCH No. 2, October 2013

I actually found the pulp fiction punchy Marc Laming cover to this second issue of “Kings Watch” rather disconcerting for three reasons. Firstly, despite the artist once again superbly capturing the naked knuckle-fighting aggression of The Phantom, the African hero doesn’t actually square-up, shoulder-to-shoulder with Flash Gordon, against the Cobra’s soldiers within the comic book. Secondly, it depicts a level of exhilarating action and adventure that is sadly missing within the entire twenty-two pages of panels which follows it; Doctor Zarkov smashing a bottle of booze over a head of a Cobra minion aside. And thirdly, in being a superior piece of art to the exclusive subscription cover by Ramon Perez, it’s probably the best thing about the entire edition.

Whilst the first of this five-issue limited series by “Dynamite Entertainment” had some slow moments, it interspersed them with some breath-taking action sequences set deep within the lush jungle of Africa. Jeff Parker’s plotting in this next instalment is nowhere near as good as the narrative plods from Manhatten, Connecticut, West Tanzania, the Cobra’s hideaway and then Gordon’s stables (returning to New Haven) and later his aircraft hangar without much happening at all. Pacing is always important in long multi-issue stories, and sadly all this flitting from scene to scene, character to character, conversation to conversation, simply smacks of Parker seriously having to pad out the storyline to fill this particular chapter in the adventure.

Only in the final handful of pages does the action finally heat up as Cobra’s men attack Gordon, Arden and Doctor Zarkov in order to steal the quantum crystal but disappointingly artist Marc Laming’s pencil work is surprisingly not up to the task. Indeed the quality of his drawing, especially after the issue’s impressive cover, seriously declines as the page count increases. The illustrator really seems to struggle with any sort of consistency whilst pencilling Dale, and unfortunately for his second outing on this title you can add his depictions of Flash and Hans to name but two, to that mix.

In fact the UK based artist's artwork showing Cobra's agents getting soundly thrashed by Alex Raymond’s creation from the early Thirties do not only not look quite right, but an especially large double-page panel of Gordon kicking an assassin appears to simply be a an uninspired lazy ‘blow up’ of a far smaller less-detailed drawing.

The variant cover art of "KINGS MEN" No. 2 by Ramon Perez

Kings Watch #1 - Dynamite Entertainment

KINGS WATCH No. 1, September 2013

I am a little new to the American comic book publisher “Dynamite Entertainment”, having only previously encountered their “Project Superpowers” and “Lord of the Jungle” titles; the first being art directed by the awesome Alex Ross, and the second, an adaptation of the original Tarzan story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, coming to a somewhat sudden and ultimately disappointing end after just fifteen issues.

However despite the fledgling force in the comic book industry only having been in existence for less than a decade, its latest array of publications have a very strong place in my heart… as they’re based around the exploits of the original pulp-fiction ‘heroes’ from the Thirties and Forties. The characters of Mandrake, The Phantom and Flash Gordon from “Kings Watch” being cases in point, but having the extra pull, to my mind at least, of being the central figures to some of the first adventures I can ever recall reading about.

Unfortunately in many ways, the combining of three such flamboyant heroes within a single title, and the outstanding cover by Marc Laming and Chris Sotomayor, are probably the best thing about this first issue. The writing of Jeff Parker is good, especially as he really gives The Phantom some serious ‘screen time’, and colorist Jordan Boyd does some lovely work bringing out all the greens of the jungle. But for some reason Laming’s artwork when depicting non-action events, such as those set in an office in Midtown Manhattan, simply don’t always work, with some awkward articulation of his figures. In particular the artist’s pencilling of Dale Arden seems somewhat odd with her face appearing strangely non-symmetrical in some panels.

Arguably though this is nit-picking as the eight pages depicting The Phantom, tag-teamed with an elephant, fighting a large dinosaur, is superbly drawn and alone makes the comic worth its cover price. For a title containing three such action-orientated heroes, there are some surprisingly slow moments within this book but considering the grandeur of the tale before us, this is an understandable build-up to the arrival of the Emperor Ming of the planet Mongo…

The variant cover art of "KINGS WATCH" No. 1 by Ramon Perez